C'est La Vie
by moonxxdark
Summary: A side story to The New Generation, following Artemis and the other Senshi. The other story is not required to understand what's going on. Much better written than The New Generation IMO.


_A/n: As I said in the summary, this is the story of what happened to Artemis and the other four Senshi, with Sailor Venus as the main character. The title is a play off the title of the Sailor V manga, taken from Aino Minako's song, "C'est La Vie" from the live action. Anyways, I tried to go into more depth about some stuff I hadn't really explained. Enjoy! And that's an order! Ok, not really. XD_

_Oh, the lyrics in the beginning are the English translation of the Sailor Stars song, btw._

Chapter 1: A Fallen Star! The Mysterious White Cat

_Give sadness now a Sailor Smile  
Bringing a miracle, a Sailor Wing  
Everybody carries a shining star inside  
I won't give up! To tomorrow, a Sailor Yell  
For sure! I will catch it! The Sailor Star  
Let this vow sound through the whole galaxy_

_After the time when you disappeared from me  
I began my journey searching for you  
The start is on the map, the stenciled picture of an angel  
The destination it points to, a waiting dark colisseum  
In my trembling heart, the secret kiss of that day  
However hard destiny may be  
I will keep following it_

_I won't look back, with my Sailor Eyes  
Reaching out to you with my Sailor Wind  
This song is the guidepost of the stars  
I won't give up! To tomorrow, a Sailor Yell  
For sure! I will find it! The Sailor Star  
With the wings of an angel, I take off_

_Alone I run along the road of the unknown  
At last I have arrived, here at this fort  
At the bottom of the flask which you left behind  
A single piece of the star of trial, now chant the magic spell_

_This is our miraculous destiny  
The past and future, crossing them all to catch up to you_

_Give sadness now my Sailor Eyes  
Bringing a miracle, a Sailor Wing  
Everybody carries a star of fate inside  
I won't give up! To tomorrow a Sailor Yell  
For sure! I will catch it! The Sailor Star  
Let this vow sound through the whole galaxy_

_I won't look back with my Sailor Eyes  
Reaching out to you with my Sailor Wind  
This song is the guidepost of the stars  
I won't give up! To tomorrow, a Sailor Yell  
For sure! I will find it! The Sailor Star  
With the wings of an angel, I take off_

Artemis sat down on the grass and closed his eyes, his long white tail twitching as he concentrated. He could sense it, the unmistakable feeling of Venus's energy, and she was close. He opened his eyes again, and started walking, following the pull of the Senshi's aura. Two days had passed since he parted ways with Luna and Diana; he wondered if either of them had had any luck.

Soon, he heard the roaring sound of car engines, the sign of human life and civilization. The girl's energy grew stronger, leading the alien feline to the busy streets of a bustling city, and with that energy came another, darker one. Was it a youma? Artemis frowned. If so, it was even more urgent that he find the young Sailor Venus, before the monster made its move and harmed innocent civilians.

He paused along the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for a lull in traffic, and darted across the street. A long, brick building loomed up before him. Its sign read 'Kendall Heights Private Academy'. Uniformed students gathered in small groups in front of the wide double doors, waiting for their parents to arrive and pick them up.

Artemis slid closer to the doors, peering at the students from his safe place behind the shrubbery. Venus's energy pulsed the strongest here; now if he could only pinpoint it. Brown and black dress shoes tapped their way past the white cat, and then a sharp jolt passed through the golden crescent moon on his forehead, like a shock of lightning. He poked his head out of the bush, staring at the girl who was clearly the source of the jolt. This was her, the daughter of his Venus!

She paused in front of the row of bushes where Artemis hid, and looked around, searching for someone. With a soft sigh, she sat down on the edge of the sidewalk, leaning her chin on her palm. Light brown hair hung in a single braid down her back, and a pair of glasses covered her blue eyes. She wore the knee length gray skirt and jacket of the school's uniform. Going by her appearance alone, the moon cat could scarcely believe this was the daughter of Venus, but then, this was not her true appearance; it was only the shell of the human form she had taken, hiding the form of the Venus princess. The energy she emitted also erased any doubt Artemis might have had. The aura was strong, almost bursting. Her inner Senshi must have sensed the darkness's movement, and she was slowly awakening herself. All that was left was for Artemis to wait for the right moment to make his appearance.

The minutes passes, and gradually the students all left, until the girl was the only one remaining. Now was his chance! Artemis moved to step out from his hiding place, but a boy's voice stopped him.

"Sally, are you still here?" a boy with short auburn hair said, walking up to her. He carried a deck of cards in his hands, engraved with the word 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' in gleaming yellow letters.

The girl—Sally—looked up, and smiled at the boy. "Hi, Dustin. I guess my mom forgot again," she replied.

Dustin shoved the cards in his pocket and sat down beside her. "My grandma should be here soon. We can give you a ride home."

"Okay. Thanks," Sally said.

Artemis scowled with irritation at the boy. The perfect opportunity, ruined. Now he would have to wait who knew how long. He settled down in the bushes, trying to find a position which didn't result in him being jabbed by branches. He failed miserably, and at last gave up and laid down, watching Sally and Dustin talk.

"Have you been keeping up with the news lately?" Sally asked. "We're pretty much the only school in the area that hasn't closed."

"If they don't close the damn school, they'll never find the bodies once I'm done."

"You're going to get yourself arrested."

Dustin shrugged. "Not if they can't find me." Sally chuckled.

Something crashed loudly behind the school, making the ground vibrate, and a wave of dark energy hit Artemis's senses. The cat jerked his head up, rising to a crouch and creeping over to the corner of the brick building, peering around it. Sure enough, a large winged creature now stood on the school lawn, its scaly neck craning around in search of something. Had it sensed Venus's energy?

"What the hell is that?" Dustin's voice said.

Artemis turned his head in horror to see Dustin and Sally standing just a few feet away from, gaping at the youma. Sally placed a hand on Dustin's arm. "I think we should get out of here," she whispered.

Too late. The youma's beady eyes fixed on the teenage girl, and it moved with lightning speed towards her, raising the three-pronged blade it clutched in its hand in preparation to strike. Artemis barely had time to act. He leapt out of the bushes, claws extended, and landed nimbly on the creature's face. He sunk his claws into its eyes, hoping she would escape while she could. Blood spurted out, staining his fur. If nothing else, at least this would slow the thing down. The youma screeched in pain, and grabbed Artemis with its free hand, hurling him into the school wall. The cat slammed into it with a thud, and his body slid to the ground. He pushed himself to his feet shakily, his vision swimming. The youma raised the blade again. Artemis dodged the fatal blow, but the blade cut across his forehead, slicing the crescent moon. A flash engulfed his body, and then he fell limply to the ground, unconscious.

"Sally, what the hell are you doing?" Dustin cried as Sally ran towards the injured cat, and right into harm's way. Groaning loudly, he ran after her.

Sally grabbed a rock off the ground, flinging it as hard as she could at the monster. Its head whirled towards her; it was blinded, but it followed the direction the stone had come from. She started to turn around and run away, but her eyes fell on the blood dripping from the creature's eyes, the loathsome look on its face, and the weapon in its hand, and her body froze. She stood there, watching as her death rose up before her.

"Moron!" Dustin's voice broke into her mind, and something shoved her aside.

Sally shook herself as her senses came back to her, and she saw the monster bringing its blade down upon her best friend. "No!" she shouted, holding out her hand as if to stop the attack. A whip like light flashed from her hand, wrapping around the monster. With a deathly screech, the creature's body ripped into pieces, and it disappeared into a pile of dust.

Dustin fell backwards, gasping for breath, his eyes still fixed on the spot where just moments ago the monster had stood. Finally, he managed to get a hold of himself, and he turned around to face Sally. "What the hell was that?" he asked, but Sally had already made her way to the cat, and was now kneeling beside it. He moaned loudly. "Would you give up on that stupid cat?"

"Dustin, he's injured," she said, ignoring his comment.

Sighing, Dustin joined her, examining the cat. Blood dripped from the wide gash on the cat's forehead, and his body was limp. Dustin tore off a piece of his shirt, and wrapped it around the cut tightly enough to stop the blood.

"We need to take him to a vet," Sally said, lifting the small white body carefully into her lap.

"We need more than that," Dustin muttered. "I'll get my grandma to stop by on the way home." Sally nodded.

An hour later, Sally and Dustin climbed the steps to her house, a bandaged, sleeping cat in Sally's arms. "I think I'll call him Snow," she said. "Can you get the door?"

Dustin turned the knob, opening the door for her to go inside and following after. "When are you going to explain what you did back there?" he asked.

"I told you, I don't know. Mom! I'm home!" she called into the house.

Footsteps sounded from the other room, and a tall woman appeared, wearing a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her hair. "Hello, dear. How was—" The woman stopped, 

her eyes widening as she spotted the cat in Sally's arms. "What is that? Get that horrid thing out of my house, this instant!"

"Mom, he's hurt," Sally said, holding the cat protectively.

"Whatever it is, I want it out! Now!" her mother cried again.

"It's okay, Sal. I can take him," Dustin whispered, holding his hands out.

Sighing softly, Sally carefully placed the cat in his arms. "Thanks," she mumbled. Dustin gave a half-smile, and nodded. With a goodbye, he left the house, pulling the door closed behind him.

"Oh, Sally! I don't know how you could even touch something like that!" Sally's mom said, shivering in disgust.

"He's a cat, Mom," Sally told her. "I'm going to my room." She headed quickly out of the room and ran up the stairs to her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She sighed and lay down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Why was her mother like that all the time?

Sally sighed again, rolling over onto her stomach and resting her head on her arms. "So much for having a new friend," she whispered to herself. She held out her right hand, studying it. What had happened today? All she knew was that, whatever it was, she didn't really feel like thinking about it right now. She dropped her hand and closed her eyes, slowly drifting into sleep.

Darkness surrounded her, thick and black. She walked slowly, cautiously. She could hear it, that strangely familiar voice. It was faint; if only she could get a little closer, then maybe she could hear it. She took another step.

"Venus." She stopped, straining her ears to hear. "Venus," it said again. "Where are you?"

"Artemis?" she called. She wasn't sure why she said it, but she knew that was the voice's name.

"Venus, find me. You must find me."

She looked around, searching for a light in the darkness, but found none. "I can't!" she said. "I'm trying, but it's so dark!"

"Hurry, Venus. Before it's too late."

Sally jolted awake to the sound of her phone going off. She sat up groggily, blinking in the gray light of late evening. She took her glasses off, setting them on the bed beside her, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

_Rrring! Rrring!_

The phone! She jumped up, grabbing the wireless phone off her bedside table, and holding it up to see the Caller ID. It was Dustin. She clicked the Talk button and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Sally, it's Dustin."

"I'm glad you called," she said. "I just had a really weird dream." She told him about the darkness, and the strange voice. "It was so odd," she finished. "Somehow, I just knew that whoever was calling me, his name was Artemis. And he kept calling me Venus. It was just weird."

"Speaking of weird, it's really weird that you should have that dream just now," Dustin said.

"What do you mean?"

"The reason I called you was about the cat. You remember that crescent moon mark we saw on its forehead at the vet?"

"What about it?"

"It was bothering me, and I finally realized where I had seen it. He was one of the cats from Sailor Moon."

Sally racked her brains for a moment. "Sailor Moon? You mean that show we used to watch when we were little kids?"

"Yeah, that one. There were three cats on that show—a black one, a gray one, and a white one. They all had crescent moons on their foreheads. The white one's name was Artemis."

Sally sucked her breath in as the realization hit her. "And Artemis was Sailor Venus's companion."

"Right."

They sat in silence for a long moment. Sally blinked at her reflection in the mirror across from her bed. "Dustin," she said at last. "This is really, really weird."


End file.
